vegetarianism. ethical eating? anyone take part

a reply to: TinySickTears

It’s pretty amazing when you shred the stems with a fork, it really looks like pulled pork! Bake that in an 350 degree oven for 30 minutes with a little olive oil and your favorite spice (I used salt/pepper, garlic powder and chipotle powder) to dry it out, then cook for a couple minutes in a skillet with your favorite bbq sauce. Delicious!

originally posted by: TinySickTears

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: TinySickTears

If you can afford pastured eggs, that would be more humane. Not “cage free”, because that just really means the egg laying hens were smushed together in a barn without cages - still cruel. Pastured means they have to have so much space to roam around without being sardined in with a bunch of other chickens.

can you get those at the main stream grocers?

You can in my area (Austin, TX). I know you can get them at places like Whole Foods and Sprouts.

Lazy carnivore here, if that can be considered a line-straddling classification. I can either eat meat or not, it goes either way for me. I don't have much cooking competence, so I usually leave the meal prep to my husband (I'm bad enough at cooking that it's his insistence that he do most of it)

Our grocer's meats, like it's produce, come from local farms. I can't attest to any level of ethical perfection witnessed firsthand, but they're not the Big Factory Firm farms, and the meat by comparison is much better in taste & texture. Others that shop where we do say they know of, or have physically been to the farms and give their approval for great livestock conditions.

Every small effort indeed counts, even if you don'i eat meat. Buy local if you have local agriculture, it makes a difference.

a reply to: TinySickTears

I have to say, my significant other went on an organic vegan diet 20 months ago when she was diagnosed with a rare form of sarcoma.

She was given 6-8 months originally. Now, she is doing other things too (ph balancing, High C intravenous, etc) because her form of cancer does not respond to chemo or radiation.

She went to the hospital last week because she had formed some more tumors and they decided to go in and take a look. We were told by her oncologist to just arrange for hospice care and let her go.

All her tumors showed signs of apoptosis (cell death) and they were all encapsulated with no angeogenesis (blood supply growth). So they just took them out. They can find no other signs of cancer anywhere.

So we went from a doctor telling her she was going to die to she's fixed. She has been in the hospital for a week... her body is rejecting the surgical staples and her healing is accelerated.

Now, the doctors say what happened really isn't possible with the type of cancer she has.

I'm starting on a veggie diet now as well. No health issues here, but I want some of what she's doing.

She has a ton of recipes that actually taste good. I'll have her give me some of her better ones when she gets home and I'll post for you.

Edited to add, look up Chris Beat Cancer. He took a food-based approach to it. Garbage in garbage out, after all...

I try to eat 4 oz of protein with a salad and vegetable side for every dinner. I know that if I didn't eat protein I would have a harder time controlling my appetite. I don't see any reason not to eat animal protein. It is really very healthy in smaller portions and what our bodies are attuned to throughout human history.

a reply to: TinySickTears

I understand completely. I went vegetarian for a bunch of different reasons, and one of the biggest ones was the complete disregard for the treatment of animals in the process of "making" meat.

In fact, I'm pretty much a "vegetarian" here but my real creed is that I don't want to kill animals unless I have to. I have no problem with the smell or taste of meat, I'm not sickened by the thought of animals dying, I'm completely fine with the cycle of life in nature, etc. I just don't want to contribute to the slaughterhouses & screwed up genetic mutations of livestock w/my actions. And since I'm blessed to be in an environment where there's fresh & safe food everywhere, I'm choosing to only eat meat if I absolutely have to.

I still eat eggs though lol. But only when they're unfertilized eggs so no life is lost in the process. I even extend my creed to insects and "critters" at home, at family members' homes, in our gardens, etc... except for mosquitoes and swarms of insects. I still hunt down mosquitoes with extreme prejudice and I'll try to contain swarms until they piss me off too much. (Our gardens get random swarms of random insects b/c they're mostly organic gardens.)

Either way, just do you. We've got to start somewhere and every new journey starts with a single step.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Tried vegan for two months.

With 4 kids and 2 adults, it was expensive, hard, and stressful.

Unless kids are brought up on that type of diet from birth most kids will not really enjoy veganism or vegetarianism.....and that makes food prep for them and meal planning an extremely stressful experience.

a reply to: LightAssassin

Yikes! That would be a hard transition. What were you going with recipe/meals wise? Just out of curiosity...im not vegan or thinking about it, or looking to judge your parenting. 😂

a reply to: LightAssassin

Yeah, my daughter was raised as a vegetarian: her favorite dishes were Mac and cheese, cheese pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches and bean and cheese nachos. Of course, she had to eat her veggies and fruits, which we never had much trouble getting her to eat. Her favorite vegetable is broccoli! My mom tried to get my daughter to eat chicken nuggets once, and she spit it out - ha.

a reply to: kaylaluv

An alternative "pulled pork" ingredient is jackfruit. There are a lot of recipes out there that use jackfruit as a meat alternative. You can usually find them whole, cut into sections, or canned in brine (I think the canned in brine version is the one used as the meat alternative). It's usually easy to find in any international food stores.

(disclaimer: I've never had pulled pork so I have no clue whether or not it actually tastes the same when prepared in those recipes)

Good luck to you!

I love steak too much to drop meat completely. Yums.

If you're hypothyroid, it may be best to avoid soy/tofu though. While not totally definitive, there are some strong studies that suggest eating large amounts of soy can interfere with thyroid function, especially if you're on the side of being iodine deficient.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Yeah, I tried the canned jackfruit - I thought it had a funny taste that wasn't to my liking - just a personal preference I guess. I've seen the fresh whole jackfruit at my grocery store - it's really large and intimidating!

a reply to: kaylaluv

Honestly, it's may be even more intimidating than you're imagining lol. The actual fruit are a bit of a pain to deal with.

1. The exterior is thick, tough and spiky. You need a sharp & strong knife to cut it.

2. It excretes latex when cut which will stick to the knife. So the knife needs to be oiled beforehand (non-stick spray is fine). There's less latex the riper it is.

3. It's got a large, inedible core going down the middle of it. The core isn't particularly tough, but it also excretes small amounts of latex when cut. I cut the fruit in quarters longways, like a long watermelon.

4. Between the core and the peel/exterior are 2 main things: a "flesh" that's got the texture of shredded chicken and a lot of rubbery bulbs. The "bulbs" are the sweet fruity part.

5. You have to somewhat firmly grab and then pull out each bulb, one at a time. This part sucks at first, but it eventually feels like a treasure hunt because you never know how many bulbs are going to be in there.

6. Each bulb has a nasty looking, veiny, ball-like lump inside of it (yeah...). That's the seed which is covered by a skin-like layer. The seeds are edible when cooked but so many people throw them out, which is weird. Extract them from the nasty looking yellow veined "skin" and then boil them (they're like a large, really dry, and starchy bean).

And that's pretty much it lol. I put a bunch of plates on a table and then sort them out as I go, like the first 4 or 5 plates are for the bulbs and the last ones are for the seeds. I've heard that more of the stuff is usable, but I've only eaten the bulbs and the seeds. It honestly isn't worth the work to me, but a lot of people consider jackfruit to be the king of fruits. It's just "i-ight" to me.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Wow... I think I'll pass.

Been vegan for 27 years. It's easy these days. In the beginning no one even knew the word. Never get sick. Late 40s and in far better shape than I was in my 20s.

Also, jackfruit tacos are pretty alright. They are all over the place out west.

eta - It's not expensive at all to be vegan. Urban myths to deter people. If it really comes down to it... how much is rice & beans really?

a reply to: kaylaluv

You could always sucker someone else into preparing it for you lol.

a reply to: okrian

I think the problem is the way veganism is promoted on tv. A lot of people see celebs & "fine dining" versions and think that's the norm. However, I'm about to make a plate of sweet potatoes, brown rice, beans, and corn, all of which are dirt cheap.

I am vegetarian over half my life.

I'm proud of a lot of things, but this the most.

I've been a vegetarian for over 10 years. I have had some problems with various vegetarian foods such as wheat, buckwheat and peas, etc. causing digestive issues, nerve and joint pain, hypothyroidism. If I am having some sort of physical problem I take a look at what I am eating every day and try to figure out what is causing it. It is always something I am eating. I am now trying to do the vegetarian version of the "plant paradox diet" - but I am not strict about it. I take vitamins and minerals every day. At 54 I am in reasonably good health and not on any medication, but I am trying to lose 20 pounds. One good thing that has resulted from being a vegetarian is I don't have as many hypoglycemic episodes as I did when I ate meat. I am not a diabetic but it does run in the family. Good luck with your goal of a cruelty-free diet.

Sal

a reply to: TinySickTears

a reply to: Atsbhct

Stir Fry's
Pasta's
Roasted Veggies
Mexican

To name a few

a reply to: kaylaluv

Yeh, my youngest is 5 years old.....He knows what he likes and doesn't like.